Workers at the Doctor José Molina Orosa Hospital have signed a document requesting a review of the measures in place for potential cases of Ebola that may arrive in Lanzarote. Additionally, healthcare personnel also held an almost "spontaneous" gathering early in the morning at the hospital doors, also to request a review of the attire for protection against this disease.
Apparently, the Emergency Room employees of the Hospital communicated on Thursday afternoon their intention to hold this gathering, which brought together a large group of people. Following this, they went to the auditorium, where a statement was read and about 60 or 70 signatures were collected in a document requesting a review of the security measures and protective suits to prevent this disease, which was to be delivered to the Hospital Management.
Specifically, this manifesto from healthcare and non-healthcare personnel points out that Ebola "requires the highest level of protection due to its severity, high risk of contagion, and, above all, the limited knowledge that professionals" have about the disease. "The personal protective equipment, technically called PPE (Personal Protection Equipment), available in our hospital is not adequate. The ideal equipment completely isolates from contact with the environment, there is not a micron of skin without protection, and some of the elements are double, as is the case with gloves," the document states.
Regarding the training of personnel for this disease, they point out that the team in charge of the risk zone, isolation zone, or who may at some point be in contact with suspected or confirmed patients, "must receive mandatory training by qualified professionals." "It is estimated that the correct donning of the suit takes about 10 minutes, and the removal of the same is a process of about 20 to 25 minutes, where ordered steps are strictly followed under the supervision of another person," they indicate.
"It must be taken into account that even those most accustomed to the long and tedious process of putting on and taking off personal protective equipment sometimes forget a step or make a mistake in the order of the processes and protocols, and that can lead to contagion," they warn in the manifesto.
Nicolás Cabrera, from the Comisiones Obreras union, has been able to speak with the hospital manager, who has informed him that there should be "absolute tranquility" because "new protective suits" will arrive from Tenerife or Gran Canaria. The reference hospital in case of having to attend to Ebola cases in the Archipelago would be in these two islands. "In Lanzarote, the patient would not stay for more than three or four hours," he assures.
Furthermore, Cabrera explained that the Emergency Room staff has already received some talks and also information on how to put on and take off protective suits and how they should follow the protocol in case this disease is detected on the island. "It is also assumed that there is an ambulance equipped for this type of case, should one occur," Cabrera indicated.
Although no case has been detected in the Canary Islands, Cabrera acknowledged that the situation that has occurred in Madrid, with the contagion of the nursing assistant who remains in serious condition in the hospital, "is frightening." The union even registered a document in the Hospital to demand an "urgent" meeting of the Safety and Health Committee of the Lanzarote area, since "more than three months" have passed since the last meeting.
In this letter, the union pointed out that it had no information as a representative of occupational health on whether the staff had been trained on what to do in the event of a patient with Ebola and requested that the protocol of action be posted on the intranet.
